Fans may not be aware, but the best-selling series about a successful businessman and secret BDSM sadist with childhood trauma is actually based on what Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James thought Twilight's Edward would be like if he was a human tycoon and his secret was sex dungeons instead of sucking blood.
Because Fifty Shades originated as fanfiction of Stephanie Meyer's YA series, there are many parallels between the two: both in plot and characterization. People who watched the two independently may not have even noticed the similarities, but once they're pointed out, they can't be ignored.
The Female Leads' Personalities Are The Same
Bella and Ana both have old-timey, classical names (Isabella and Anastasia) but go by less ornate nicknames: a statement on their love of simple things. They dislike attention and lavish gifts, but both date men (Edward and Christian) that bestow lavish gifts upon them, sometimes in cringeworthy ways.
Both leads are brunette bookworms with lip-biting and balance issues. They're tripping constantly, which sparks the protective nature of their male counterparts. Their parent figures are both separated and their immature mothers remarried. They're also both modest, and neither of them has had serious boyfriends or sexual partners before meeting the male leads.
The Setting Is The Pacific Northwest
As many people know, Twilight takes place in the rainy small town of Forks, Washington - one of the few places vampires feel safer because of the near-constant cloud cover. Fifty Shades of Grey, subsequently, takes place in Seattle, Washington.
While Ana's biological dad was killed in an accident a day after her birth (a change from the Twilight background), her mom's second husband, Ray, adopted her and is her "real" father figure, even after the two split. Ana then moved to Montesano, WA to be with Ray, much like Bella begrudgingly moves to Forks in the books to be with Charlie. There's even a "visiting mom" chapter for Ana, like Bella visiting Renée.
The Best Friends Have Opposite Interests
Jessica may not be Bella's best friend in the world, but the two spend a significant amount of time with each other. However, the two have almost completely opposite interests and personalities. Jessica is a bubbly, talkative cheerleader and Bella is a demure, book-loving wallflower. Somehow the two get along and Bella considers them close.
Similarly, Ana is best friends and roommates with Kate: a bubbly, talkative journalist. Bella and Ana befriend Jessica and Kate as students at a new school. For Bella, it's high school, and for Ana it's college. Both friend characters are even the valedictorians for their respective graduations (although, this was a Twilight book-to-movie change, and in the books it's Eric).
The Mysterious Lead Male Character Has A Secret World
Edward Cullen may have originated the "brooding, old-fashion guy with a secret and a painful past" but Christian Grey follows the blueprint. For starters, both male leads are members of an adopted family - the Cullens and the Greys - and both harbor the pain of a traumatic past.
Edward suffered from Spanish influenza before becoming a bloodthirsty vampire with a brief and tragic vigilante phase, and Christian suffered emotional and physical abuse from his addict birth mother and her boyfriends before becoming a sadistic dom in the BDSM world. Both men, although full of self-degradation, take the female leads under their wings and introduce them to their world, simultaneously terrified of rejection.
The Best Guy Friend Is In Love With The Main Character
The Twilight love triangle is one of the most well-known aspects of the franchise. Jacob, Bella's happy-go-lucky friend, becomes hopelessly in love with her and tries to convince her to be with him instead of Edward.
Ana's love triangle with José is much more streamlined and less reciprocal than Bella's - but it's still there. While Bella has some sort of emotional attachment to Jacob, Ana strictly sees José as "the brother she never had." Christian, however, recognizes José's attraction to Ana and doesn't like it. José tries to kiss Ana in the first book, and Christian stops him. He then uses Ana as the subject of his photography gallery in the second book, and Christian buys the entire collection.
The Bitter Rival Plots To Even The Score
Victoria has a brief appearance in Twilight before becoming a problem for a large part of the series, hunting Bella mercilessly and creating a vampire army because she feels that Edward owes her a debt after killing her mate, James. Fifty Shades has a similar villain with an almost identical motivation.
Jack Hyde also has a quick intro before reappearing to get revenge against Christian. Not only is Christian the one who had him fired (rightfully so, as he assaulted Ana) but it's also revealed that Jack and Christian were in a foster home together and he feels Christian owes him for being adopted by the wealthy Greys while he wasn't. Although Jack's much less persistent in the movies, he stalks Christian and his family, and with the help of others who dislike Christian, he kidnaps his sister and holds her for ransom.
The Main Couple Have A Painful Breakup And Depressive Period Following It
After Edward believes that Bella's in too much danger in his world, Edward does the worst and breaks up with her, leaving Forks. Bella has a zombie-like depressive episode with terrible nightmares and a general lack of enthusiasm for life without her supposed soulmate.
Fifty Shades does it a little differently, with similar results. Instead of Christian, Ana ends things, but for the same reason: she believes that she doesn't belong in his world. Both women feel numb, and like part of themselves is missing. Bella calls herself a "hole" while Ana chooses the word "void." Bella's is much longer, lasting several months, whereas Ana's is about a week, but their emotional reactions are almost identical.
Followed By A Streamlined Relationship And Wedding
Without timelines, the relationship pace in both franchises isn't anything to raise an eyebrow over. But, with a closer look, it's shockingly fast. Bella and Edward know each other for eight months before their breakup in New Moon. It's another six months before they reconcile and Edward proposes the next month. They're then married, in a Twilight plot point that hasn't aged very well, five months after that - only about a year and a half after meeting and almost half of that time being apart.
Ana and Christian's relationship is even quicker. They meet, and then quasi-date for about a month before breaking up for a week and reconciling. After that, they date seriously and are engaged after another month, then are married six weeks later.
There's An Unexpected Pregnancy That The Male Lead Has Preoccupations About
Both Ana and Bella become pregnant on their honeymoons. Bella finds out mere days after, and it takes Ana about four to five weeks to make the discovery, but they both have mild panic followed by intense protectiveness over the baby.
The male leads' reactions are also similar: panic and fear, followed by anger and a push for termination. Edward's reaction is based on fear of what the child may be, and the health consequences it could have for Bella, while Christian is terrified of being a father after having a less-than-savory childhood and his current exclusive set of interests (BDSM). Their fears aren't totally unfounded: both Ana and Bella sadly almost die during childbirth, and both require emergency C-sections.
The Couple Lives Happily Ever After In A Forest Home
After several near-death experiences - Edward and Bella at the hands of Victoria and the Volturi, and Ana and Christian at the hands of Jack Hyde - the main character finally gets everything they wanted, including a spot in the secret world introduced to them at the beginning of their stories.
Ana gets to enjoy BDSM on her own terms, and Bella becomes a vampire on her own terms. Neither girl had to sacrifice a family, as briefly threatened to both of them, and they both ended up in a specially-designed home in the woods. Bella's is a gift from Esme, and Ana's is a gift from Christian. Everyone ends happily ever after in a meadow.